Struggling Wolfpack Howling in Pain
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 31, 2003; Page D10

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- This season has not gone quite as planned for North Carolina State.

It hasn't gone poorly, mind you. It's just that the Wolfpack went 11-3 and won the Gator Bowl last season, then regrouped for 2003 with one of the best quarterback-tailback-wide receiver triumvirates in the nation. This seemed like a team ready to challenge Florida State for the ACC championship and perhaps earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.

Instead N.C. State (6-3, 3-2) lost two of its first three games and fell out of the top 25. Its conference title hopes died the first weekend in October. And even when the Wolfpack wins, it hasn't always been pretty. None of its victories in the past three weeks -- Connecticut, Clemson and Duke -- came by more than a touchdown.

N.C. State Coach Chuck Amato is aware of all this. As an explanation -- not an excuse, he says, just an explanation -- he points to his team's injured list.

"We're not the same team that everybody had all these high expectations on," Amato said as the Wolfpack prepared to host Virginia on Saturday. "I've never been around a team that has lost so many impact players, so many players that were preseason picks to be possible all-conference candidates."

The list starts with tailback T.A. McLendon, who was the ACC's rookie of the year last season but has been banged up for much of his short career. Knee and hamstring injuries have kept him out of four games and limited his effectiveness in two other games. "It's very, very, very doubtful" that McLendon's sprained knee will allow him to play this weekend, Amato said Wednesday.

McLendon's backup, Josh Brown, might miss his fourth consecutive game because of a hip flexor and lower abdominal strain. Chris Colmer, the team's best offensive lineman, has a nerve problem in his arm that has sidelined him all season. Starting wide receiver Sterling Hicks missed the second game because of a broken hand, and then tore a knee ligament the next week. His replacement, Richard Washington, cracked two ribs last week and can't even breathe without serious pain.

And that's just the offense. Three defensive starters -- end Renaldo Moses, cornerback Lamont Reid and free safety Troy Graham -- also have missed time because of injuries.

"Injuries have killed us these couple weeks," said weakside linebacker Pat Thomas, the team's second-leading tackler.

The injuries have played a role in the sudden collapse of N.C. State's running game, which ranks 115th among Division I-A's 117 teams at 89.6 yards per game after averaging 144.1 last season. The Wolfpack's scoring average has gone up slightly, but only thanks to the work of quarterback Philip Rivers, wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery and the nation's fourth-best passing game.

"We've had to do more because of the running game being not so great," said Rivers, who is sixth in NCAA history in passing yards. "Those guys that have been in there [for McLendon] have run the ball hard and had some good runs, but it's that consistent running attack that defenses haven't had to always be ready for."

"Their style of play is more like it was two years ago before they had McLendon," Virginia Coach Al Groh said, noting that Rivers throws plenty of short passes that serve the function of runs.

The N.C. State defense has allowed opponents to average 10 more points and 117 more passing yards than last season. Part of the problem is the Wolfpack, with five freshmen in its eight-man defensive line rotation, isn't getting the same pass rush as last season, when it led the ACC in sacks by a wide margin.

"It made covering a lot easier," said Amato, who coached defense for 27 years as an assistant coach. "We could get to a quarterback with a four-man rush."

Of course, N.C. State is not dead just yet. With games remaining against Virginia, Florida State and Maryland, it could still finish second in the conference.

"We can't dwell on what we don't have," Rivers said. "We've got to look at what we've got and move on. . . . We've handled it well, I've felt like, and we're here for the home stretch. Our toughest games are ahead."
 

UVa recruiting class a numbers crunch
Fork Union coach thinks Copper can play
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

Every time that Virginia receives another football commitment, I find myself stumped for a minute to figure out how many the Cavaliers have.

The latest public commitment came from Chris Gorham, a 6-foot, 170-pound defensive back from Pottstown, Pa.

According to the list that adjoins this site, Gorham is the 16th player to commit to accept a scholarship from the Cavaliers.

That includes quarterback Chris Olsen, a transfer from Notre Dame who is enrolled at UVa but not currently eligible, and two players who are in their junior year in high school, quarterback Vicqual "Vic" Hall from Gretna and wide receiver-linebacker Maurice Covington from Southern Durham (N.C.) High School.

Olsen can be applied toward the 25-scholarship NCAA limit for the 2003 recruiting year and Hall and Covington will count for 2005. So, the operative number for this year is 13.

With a number of highly rated players still on the UVa recruiting board, the Cavaliers can add another 12 scholarship players, provided there are not any commitments.

Another player that Virginia fans might want to keep in mind is Jon Copper, an All-Group AA defensive lineman last year for Northside High School who is learning to play linebacker at Fork Union Military Academy.

Copper already has committed to UVa, although original plans were for him to come as a walk-on.

"There's no doubt in my mind that he plays there,” Fork Union coach John Shuman said Thursday. “He probably had 30 tackles last week against West Virginia. He was all over the field. I couldn’t believe it.”

Shuman said that Copper, already an outstanding student, recently scored 1,400 on the SAT and might qualify for a national merit scholarship from UVa. However, if he receives aid and then plays for the Cavaliers, he would have to count against the football team's scholarship limit.

That would be a consideration if and when the Cavaliers decided to play Copper.

"I'm not sure how he fits in with that linebacker corps they have there now,” said Shuman, who is aware that the Cavaliers have been starting true freshman Ahmad Brooks and redshirt freshman Kai Parham. "He should do two years with us, honestly, to let some of those guys get drafted.

"That's not going to happen, so, as the person who’s manning the show here, I’m trying to get another I-A guy to offer him and say, 'Look, why go over there and sit on the bench when you can go to a good academic school like Northwestern and Vanderbilt and play?'

“It's his goal to go to Virginia one way or another. He says he’s going to Virginia. If they redshirt him, he'll be a man-child in another season.”

THE RESPONDENTS TO last week's UVa Insider poll, must have been going with their hearts, particularly the 23 percent who predicted the Cavaliers will go 9-3, which means Virginia would have to run the regular-season table against North Carolina State, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

I think Virginia would be favored right now in one of those four games -- at home against Georgia Tech -- but I think the Cavaliers will win twice and then win a bowl game to go 8-5 (my prediction before the season).

The largest number of voters (39 percent) went with 8-4 in the regular season, which wouldn't be much less impressive than 9-3. Either 8-4 or 9-3 gets the Cavaliers in the final regular-season Top 25.

SPEAKING OF POLLS, I was interested to see on wagononline.com, the UVa site on rivals.com, that Wali Lundy was an overwhelming choice as the Cavaliers' most valuable player to this point. That surprised me. I would have picked quarterback Matt Schaub or tight end Heath Miller ahead of Lundy.

RICHIE BEDESEM, who was an outstanding linebacker for UVa over the last month of the 2003 season, was in uniform but did not play Saturday against Troy State and I'm not sure he's going to get his job back from Parham, who has started four consecutive games.

Groh revealed something about his coaching philosophy when asked recently about Bedesem, who limped off the field against Wake Forest on Sept. 27 with an apparent knee injury.

“It's no different than when a player goes in the game as part of a rotation," Groh said. "If player A starts and player B goes in the game and plays better than player A, he's going to start the next game.

"If player A is hurt and player B comes in and plays better than player A ever played, then player B starts. If player A comes back and player B did a nice job but didn't exceed what player A did, then player A goes back in as the starter.

"There is none of that can't-lose-your-job-to-injury [policy]. OK? The job can always change if the player who takes your place plays better."

Groh said prior to the Troy State game that "there are some things [Bedesem] has difficulty doing that he could do before," which makes me wonder if we'll be hearing in a few weeks that Bedesem has had arthroscopic surgery. It was 2-3 weeks after Marquis Weeks got scoped that I knew about it.”

OF THE SIX 2003 RECRUITS who have seen playing time for UVa, offensive tackle Gordie Sammis has played the least, with appearances against Western Michigan, North Carolina and Troy State.

"In a game the nature of [games with Clemson and Florida State], it would have been foolish to put him in, especially to remove the player he would have gone in for, [D'Brickashaw] Ferguson,” Groh said. "If there should be some unfortunate event, then he'd quickly be in the game.

"Even though he hasn't played as much as I would have liked, if it ever does come to, 'Hey, Gordie, get in the game,' at least it's not the first time he's ever heard that. Who knows when it will come? Hopefully, it doesn't come on that [unfortunate] basis. We just thought he needed to have experience."

Punter Noah Greenbaum, a walk-on, became the seventh true freshman to play in a game for the Cavaliers this season. The others (in approximate order of playing time) are linebacker Ahmad Brooks, offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham, wide receivers Deyon Williams and Fontel Mintes, safety Robbie Catterton and Sammis.

Catterton, injured against North Carolina, missed two games before dressing for the Troy State game.

 

Wolfpack in dogfight for 2nd place
DAVID DROSCHAK
Associated Press

RALEIGH - The Atlantic Coast Conference has all the makings of a tight race heading into November. Too bad it's for second place.

Florida State hasn't lost a conference game and has all but secured another BCS bowl while five teams are locked in a battle for second place with two ACC losses each.

That group includes Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina State and Virginia. The Wolfpack (6-3, 3-2) hosts the Cavaliers (5-3, 3-2) this weekend, meaning the loser will get knocked down a notch.

"We're all in the same boat, we're all fighting for the same thing," N.C. State coach Chuck Amato said. "That's what's going to make all these remaining games so neat. Everybody is going to be playing so hard no matter how many Band-Aids we're all wearing."

N.C. State has hung in the race despite a 3-3 start and a rash of injuries that continue to pile up. Third-leading receiver Richard Washington was the latest to go down last weekend with two cracked ribs.

"I hope I never have to go through one of these seasons again with all the expectations and then the number of impact players that have been injured," Amato said. "Our guys are a bunch of winners the way they've stayed together with a limited amount of senior leadership."

Other ACC matchups this weekend include Clemson at Wake Forest and North Carolina at Maryland.

In non-conference games, the Seminoles (7-1) travel to slumping Notre Dame, while Duke (2-6) is at Tennessee.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden is excited to see how the race will play out.

"It's very uncommon to have this many teams logjammed for second this late in the season," Bowden said. "That says a lot about the competitiveness of the conference.

"Since Florida State has come in the league, university administrations have gotten more serious about football," he added. "Florida State is still a good team, but the rest of us are elevated. They can be seen from the mountainside. They are not way at the top and everybody else at the bottom like it used to be."

Georgia Tech (5-3, 3-2) is off this weekend after playing last Thursday. However, coach Chan Gailey will keep track of the rest of the ACC scores.

"We're talking about ourselves, where we are, where we want to be and what it's going to take to get there," Gailey said. "We get the opportunity to look and see what happens this weekend and then go do our thing after that. If we keep winning, good things will happen to us."

Other than the ACC's berth in the BCS, the teams tied for second place are jockeying for five other guaranteed bowl spots for the conference.

Wake Forest is also in the mix at 4-4.

"Most of the teams in this little horse race have a challenging November in front of them," said Virginia coach Al Groh, whose team beat N.C. State and Maryland to tie to second in 2002.

"It's very similar to the circumstances we faced last year. We understand what is necessary and what it takes. We just have to see if we're up to it again this time."
 

Hokies' record against top-10 teams nothing to beam about
By Norm Wood | Newport News (Va.) Daily Press
Posted October 31, 2003

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Discussing how to beat the nation's college football elite can make a room go silent in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer doesn't have the answer, and he's not sure where to find it.

Since beating No. 9 Texas in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, Virginia Tech hasn't figured out how to beat the nation's best. Beamer is 2-20 against top-10 teams in 17 seasons at Tech. His teams sometimes have been unlucky -- for instance, Ernest Wilford dropped a 2-point conversion pass that would have tied No. 1 Miami two years ago -- but mostly Tech has just been beaten. Its 20 losses have been by an average of 17 points.

It's a topic Beamer doesn't like to talk about.

"I think we've been a pretty solid program and we're going to continue business as usual," Beamer said. "If you want to consistently be in the top 10, you've got to win those games."

He isn't alone in his futility. Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, the two winningest coaches in NCAA Division I-A history, have losing records against the top 10.

One truth is certain: There's no sure way to win the big ones.

"I think the advice is to have good players and a good staff," said Miami Coach Larry Coker, whose second-ranked Hurricanes meet No. 10 Tech on Saturday night in Blacksburg.

Coker knows what he's talking about. Despite being the Hurricanes' coach for three years, he has had unparalleled success in big games. In his first game against a top-10 team, Miami routed No. 4 Nebraska 37-14 for the national title. Since then, the 'Canes are 3-1 against top-10 teams, with the loss coming to Ohio State in last season's title game.

When it comes to the big ones, Coker doesn't try to pretend his players are going to treat it as they would any other game.

"I think the thing we try to be is consistent," said Coker, whose teams have won 39 consecutive regular-season games, 15 of those on the road. "You'd like to say you prepare the same every week, and we really try to do that. But your players know. The players at Miami really seem to take it personal and really try to play their best in the big games."

When it comes to preparation, Beamer is of the "treat-them-all-the-same" philosophy. He doesn't believe downplaying big games has affected his players' preparation.

"I don't think they psyche themselves out," said Beamer, 0-7 against the Hurricanes when they have been in the top 10. "I think we've played great football teams and we haven't been able to break through here in a while. Let's keep knocking on the door, and one of these days we'll open it up."

Perhaps de-emphasizing the importance of the games is the wrong way to go. Like Beamer, Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder has led the Wildcats to a position where they are regularly talked about as national-title contenders. But Kansas State usually stumbles against a higher-ranked team in the regular season: Snyder is 2-22 against top-10 opponents in his 16 seasons at Kansas State.

Still, Snyder stands by his philosophy.

"Every game becomes a prominent football game for us," Snyder said. "If it happens to be a team that's up the ladder from you and you're the underdog, then does it take on a life of its own? I really don't think so.

"You have to understand in this day and age that you see so many upsets. I think it really comes down to how well your team is prepared."

Of course, that's not to say building up every game like it's for the national title pays dividends. Texas Coach Mack Brown is the first to admit he has tried that approach, but his Longhorns teams are 3-9 against top-10 teams.

"I've been coaching for 20 years and each team is different," Brown said. "The personality of your team is different. You really don't know what you've got until you get into the middle of a season. You think you do, but you don't. You have to see how they respond in those games [against top-10 foes].

"You handle each team differently. You handle each week differently. Part of it depends on what they've accomplished going into that ballgame."

Bowden has fine-tuned his big-game preparation over the years. For example, on weeks when his Seminoles are taking on Florida or Miami, he doesn't talk to his players about the importance of the game. He figures they'll talk about it among themselves.

Bowden's game-week banter is nothing but X's and O's. It's a tactic he uses to try to take emotion out of the game.

"Really, we just try to prepare the team by saying, 'This is what we must do to win the game,'" Bowden said. "You prepare on that probably more than any other factor."

Generally, Beamer hasn't had as much talent as Miami or FSU. Saturday's game will be just the fourth in which he has coached a team ranked in the top 10 against a top-10 team. His previous three attempts have been losses.

"I think the fact that we've been rated up there ourselves a few times says one thing, but in the end you've got to beat the top teams," Beamer said. "That still remains our objective."

Safety measure for U.Va.
Hardy's switch from corner gave Cavaliers experience in the defensive backfield
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 31, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The linebacker in Jermaine Hardy's rear-view mirror has been drawing steadily closer, and the University of Virginia safety's lead has dwindled to a single tackle.

"I'm about to get him," Ahmad Brooks said the other day.

U.Va. will meet N.C. State tomorrow afternoon, and Hardy, a 5-11, 208-pound junior, will enter their ACC showdown with a team-high 69 tackles. Brooks, a true freshman, has 68.

Hardy won't be surprised if the 6-4, 249-pound inside linebacker passes him tomorrow. Nor will he be disappointed.

"I don't know how good that is: a safety leading the teams in tackles," Hardy said. Anyway, he added with a smile, Brooks was a high school All-American, "so he should be making plays."

Hardy has made plays all season, a positive development for a defense with only three seniors on its two-deep. His hits may routinely elicit oohs and aahs from the crowd, as did those of former U.Va. safeties Jerton Evans and Anthony Poindexter, but Hardy isn't concerned about collecting style points.

"I get'em down," he said, and for a player who often represents the Cavaliers' last line of defense, that's particularly important.

In addition to making 69 tackles, three of them for losses, Hardy has intercepted two passes, broken up four throws and caused a fumble. His pick against Troy State last weekend helped preserve U.Va.'s shutout. Against Florida State, Hardy nearly came up with a spectacular interception, but the pass was ruled incomplete.

All this from a guy who spent his first two college seasons as a reserve cornerback.

"For a first-year safety, his progress has been very good," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "He's very interested in it. I think his play is reflective of his preparation. He's up there [in the football office] all the time looking at tape."

Debra Hardy has come to expect such diligence from her son, who's majoring in psychology. "By him being an only child and by me being so strict on him," she said, "he didn't have any choice."

At Roanoke's William Fleming High, Hardy was an all-Group AAA tailback and safety. At Hargrave Military Academy, where he spent a postgraduate year, he played safety. When Hardy arrived at U.Va. in 2001, however, he was shifted to cornerback, where Groh had inherited little experience or talent.

Hardy was on the field for 122 plays in 2001 and for 496 last season. But he probably would have been a reserve at corner again this season, so Hardy asked Groh to move him to safety. He quickly moved into the starting lineup, and he's not likely to relinquish his job.

Truth be told, Hardy prefers safety to cornerback.

"You've got to make the right calls and get everybody straight and lined up right on defense," he said. "It's a big challenge for me, and I like taking on challenges. It just comes easy for me. I like taking charge, and at safety you've got to take charge."

He's already faced such top-flight quarterbacks as Western Michigan's Chad Munson, North Carolina's Darian Durant and Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst this season. A bigger test comes tomorrow against N.C. State senior Philip Rivers, the ACC's all-time passing leader.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge," said Hardy, who plays a position at which mistakes are readily apparent and where thick skin is essential.

"Back there in the secondary, you never know what might happen," he said. "One day you might be the greatest guy in the world, but as soon as you mess up, you might be the worst."

A missed assignment might bother Hardy, but he's learned to keep football in perspective. On April 4, four of his relatives -- his mother's niece Angela Arrington and three of her daughters were shot to death in their Roanoke home.

"They looked up to him because he played football," Debra Hardy said.

Jermaine said: "They were my fans. When I came back home, they'd always say, 'I saw you on TV, I saw you on TV.' So after it happened, I decided to dedicate the season to them."